Bollywood celebs, kin bid adieu to actress Sadhana

Saturday, Dec 26, 2015,14:49 ISTBy Metrovaartha AAA

Mumbai | Last rites of veteran Bollywood actress Sadhana Shivdasani were performed today at a crematorium in suburban Santacruz here where few celebrities and family members bid adieu to the departed soul. The 74-year-old actress passed away yesterday at a hospital in suburban Mahim after a brief illness. Film personalities like Helen, Salim Khan, Deepti Naval, Raza Murad, Poonam Sinha and others were present to pay their last respects.

The yesteryear actress, who was hospitalised for high fever, passed away at around 10 AM, Sadhana’s close associate and advocate Ameet Mehta told. One of the top actresses of Hindi film’s golden era in the 1960s and 70s, she became the first cine star to have a hairstyle famously named after her. Born in a Sindhi family in Karachi, British India, she was named after her father’s favourite actress-dancer Sadhana Bose. Her father was the brother of actor Hari Shivdasani, father of actress Babita.

The family fled from Karachi during the post-Partition riots and settled in Mumbai. In 1955, Sadhana featured in popular song Mur mur ke na dekh mur mur ke in Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420. She was only 15-year-old, when she was approached by some producers who had seen her act in a college play. They cast her in India’s first Sindhi film titled Abaana (1958).

Sashadhar Mukherjee, one of Hindi cinema’s major producers at that time, noticed her and she joined Mukherjee’s acting school. The Filmalaya Production banner thus introduced Joy Mukherjee, Sadhana and her iconic hairstyle in their 1960 romantic film Love in Simla.

The film was declared a hit at the box office. She continued to deliver memorable performances in films like Parakh, Hum Dono, Ek Musafir Ek Hasina, Mere Mehboob, Woh Kaun Thi, Mera Saaya, Waqt, Arzoo, Intaquam, Ek Phool Do Mali, Geeta Mera Naam which she also directed. Sadhana suffered from a disorder of her eyes due to hyperthyroidism. After her retirement, she refused to be photographed simply as apparently she wanted to be remembered the way she was.